A total €1.78 millions have been granted to six Swedish West Coast trawlers to be scrapped, the first in a campaign aimed at a 50-percent reduction of the nation’s cod fleet in western waters by 2015.
As the application period ran out last summer 45 vessels, equalling one third of the total Swedish capacity for catching cod in the Kattegat, the Skagerrak and the North Sea, had asked for subsidies under the program, two thirds of which is funded by the EU. Those applications totalled almost €25 million, slightly more than had been allotted, so the Swedish Board of Fisheries, a government agency, then started a selection process that focused on reaching the largest possible capacity reduction at the lowest possible cost.
The six boats first to be scrapped measure between 14-19 metres, and their owners will receive subsidies of between €67,000-465,000 as a result of negotiations with the Board of Fisheries. The sums will be paid out after the vessels have been scrapped.
The Board said similar negotiations are currently underway with some 20 other trawlers on the West Coast.